I Could Get Used to This
by TurboWiz70
Summary: Clare is sick and Eli is at NYU. Does that stop him from giving her all the love and comfort she needs? Nope. One-shot. EClare. Read, review, enjoy!


New one-shot everyone! This was written for my lovely friend and fellow fanfiction writer/Degrassian eclarefanxxx. Future fic that takes place when Eli is at NYU and Clare has a cold (plus a little sprinkling of EClareness that I decided to throw in last second). The title is inspired by the song "I Could Get Used to This" by the Veronicas. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or anything related to the Veronicas.

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I Could Get Used to This

"Clare, are you sure you're okay?" Eli asked me for the hundredth time.

"I'm fine," I assured him, rolling my eyes although he could not see me doing so since we were having this conversation via cell phone. "It's just a cold."

"Are you sure that's all it is? You don't sound so hot."

"Then it's a good thing we're not Skyping then; I look how I sound."

I was a mess to say the least. I had been suffering from a cold that had been going around Degrassi; it was just my luck that I caught it just when everyone else was beginning to recover. Right now I was lying in bed on this Tuesday night; my face was pale, my nose was red and running, my head was on fire while my body was chilled, and I could feel my throat swell every time I coughed. Needless to say, I really did not want my boyfriend seeing me while I looked like a complete wreck.

"Either way, do you need to go see a doctor or anything?"

"I'm fine," I said. He has always been more concerned about me now that he was at NYU, but he was not possessive like he was before our first breakup; he was just trying to care for me without being by my side and he was doing a very good job thus far.

"Okay, but remember to get plenty of rest and drink a lot of fluids," he instructed.

"I will," I promised, my voice croaking. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Alright, feel better soon, babe."

"I'll try. I love you."

"I love you too."

I hung up my phone and put it to the side before grabbing a Kleenex from the box next to me. I blew my nose louder than I intended and I was surprised that Jake had not been disturbed in the next room; he could be a light sleeper at times and the walls were not exactly thick. Groaning at my misfortune, I threw the tissue somewhere away from my bed before lying on my side and closing my eyes.

I eventually fell into an uneasy sleep, but I always got up in the middle of the night to cough or sneeze or to blow my nose or something. It aggravated me that I seemed to be waking up every couple of hours and how I could never seem to get comfortable; the fact that I was never comfortable was one of the many reasons I resented being sick.

I also hated that I had missed out on my schoolwork. I hated missing assignments and making up work when I could have been with everyone else to do it. The next morning I begged my mother for me to go although I did not argue with her too much when she insisted that I remained at home; I was too tired and sick to move, so I just decided that school could wait another day . . . maybe two.

Jake and Glen went to work early that morning, both of them wishing me to get well soon, and my mom followed soon after. She asked if I wanted her to stay, but I did not want to keep her at home when she could be at work; I reassured her that I would be fine, but she did not leave without telling me what I should do to take care of myself.

After dragging myself out of bed to get a piece of dry toast for my breakfast, I returned to my room and drank the glass of water my mom brought up for me that morning before lying back down. I was hoping to get caught up on my sleep, but I doubted if that would be a possibility. I tossed and turned in my bed for at least half an hour before finally finding a position I was comfortable in; I tried my best not to move so I did not have to start the process over again. Wishing that I was not so sick and that I would recover soon, I closed my eyes and I soon found myself drifting into sleep . . .

But my nap was short lived. I awoke and I began to cough; my throat felt like it was about to explode and I tried to get control of it, but it kept fighting back with a vengeance. I felt the tears sting my eyes in reaction to the pain and I wanted to rip out my throat just so I can stop coughing. I attempted to take a breath, but I only continued to cough. Tears were going down my face and I could not take the pain.

"Clare," a comforting voice said from far away. "Clare, it's okay."

I felt a hand being placed on my back and rubbed it soothingly; I would have been more frightened if I was not so distracted by pain. I soon got control of my breathing and I was able to turn to the person who was giving me this source of comfort . . .

"Eli . . ."

Feeling my face warm up and my heart pound, I felt dizzy and I fell forward onto my boyfriend. He caught me as I met his chest before lying me back down on my bed; I took in some air before looking directly at the person at him . . . and there was no mistaking the forest of dark hair or those piercing green eyes.

Eli was here . . . with me . . . in my room . . .

I could not believe it. I had not seen Eli since he got on a plane for New York months before; I remember the tearful goodbye we had before I eventually had to let him go. I remembered being depressed for days before finally realizing I had to get ahold of myself and move on. But now he was back with me and his mere presence filled the hole that had been in my heart for so long.

"Eli . . . aren't you supposed to be in New York?" I asked in a croaky voice.

"Nice to see you too," he smirked.

"Seriously," I remarked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to nurse you back to health."

"But what about school?"

"I'll take care of that later; but right now I'm here to take care of you."

"When did you get here?"

"My plane landed forty minutes ago and I drove straight here."

"And how –?"

"Clare," he said, "all questions can wait until later. You have to focus on getting better."

I was too shocked to argue, but I felt my lips curve into a grin at the perfect reminder at how incredible and considerate Eli was.

"Can I just ask you one more thing?"

"I guess," he approved in exasperation.

"You're . . . not going back anytime soon, are you?"

"Not for a whole week," he grinned. "And I will be here with you every day until you get better."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yep," he said.

Not being able to restrain myself, I sat up and smashed my lips to his. I did not care if I was sick right now or that I probably should have kept my germs to myself; I just wanted to kiss my boyfriend again and I did not care about the consequences. It soon became clear that he did not care either, for he was tangling his fingers in my hair and kissing me back with all the bottled up love he had for me. I reciprocated to the best of my ability, but I soon I had to pull away since I could feel myself getting faint again. I put my head down on my pillow and breathed in, him grinning down at me.

"Sorry you don't feel good."

"I'll live," I said. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

"At first I was worried that you were just a hallucination from my fever," I admitted.

He smirked at me before kissing my forehead.

"Yow," he said, revoking his lips. "You're hot alright."

He then placed the back of his hand against my head; I loved how cool his hand seemed to be against my heated skin. I gave him a weak smile at the feeling, but I think he was too focused on my condition to notice.

"How long have you had a fever?" he asked as he put his hand on my cheek.

"A day or two," I said, his hand feeling amazing against my face. It reminded me of how he would smooth his thumb over my cheek or help me dry my tears and how comforted I felt as he did so.

"Here," he said, picking up the thermometer on my bed before turning it on and sliding a new plastic sleeve onto the tip. "When was the last time you took your temperature?"

"This morning," I answered. "It was a hundred and one."

"Well, let's see if it's gone down."

I attempted to sit up, but my upper body strength was beginning to wane. I began to fall back on to my bed the second I sat up.

"Here," Eli said, putting the thermometer to the side after seeing my weakened state. He helped me sit up and he climbed behind me until I was able to rest against him and he could put an arm around me. "Is this okay?"

I nodded against his chest, feeling comfortable and at peace despite my aliment.

"Okay, open up."

He guided the thermometer into my mouth while I positioned it under my tongue and held on to it. As the device read my temperature, Eli rubbed his hand over my side; I would have smiled if my mouth was not already occupied, so I hummed at the feeling. After a minute, a beep resonated from the thermometer and I withdrew it from my mouth; Eli and I both looked at the number it read exactly a hundred and one degrees.

"Same," I sighed as I put it back on my bedside table.

Eli held me securely in his arms as I got comfortable on his torso, never wanting to move again since I was so content here. He was now rubbing his hand up and down my back, relaxing all of my tense muscles.

"I missed this."

"So have I," he replied before kissing the top of my head. "Is there anything I could get for you? Water? Something to eat? Anything?"

"No, just stay here."

"Okay."

Part of me wished he did not care so much, but then again I knew I probably would not love him if he didn't. I just did not want to be reminded of it; he was here now to make me feel better, but then he would leave again and leave me alone to only talk to me over the phone and other means of technology. I hated that he was so far away and that this was his first visit back home; I did not want to be sick so the two of us could just be together like we used to but I had to face the reality that I would be this way for the rest of his visit.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Hu?" I said.

"You're crying. Are you okay?" he repeated with great care.

I had been so focused on my thoughts that I had just now felt the tears going down my cheeks. In truth, I was afraid of him leaving. He had been away from me for too long and I could not bear the thought of him leaving me again.

"Don't go," I begged, scooting closer to him.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered before kissing my temple.

"No, don't go back to New York. Come back home. Don't leave me."

I was aware of how selfish I sounded, but I needed Eli here. I needed him in my life and I never wanted to let him go. We may have had a lot of problems before he graduated Degrassi and it took nothing short of a miracle for us to overcome them, but we were still together for a reason and I could not bear the thought of another problem surfacing to put our relationship at risk.

"Clare . . ."

"I don't want to lose you, Eli. I don't want us to break up or to have problems or for us to be apart all the time. I want us to be normal again."

"Come here," he said before holding me tighter and guiding my head to cry into his shoulder. I cried, which was probably not helping my cold but I did not care. I had not had a decent cry about this is weeks and there was so much bottled up that I needed to let it all out. He continued to caress my spine with his hand, kissing my neck and head to give me comfort.

I waited for his reaction to what I said, but he did nothing but continued to care for me until I stilled my tears. When I was soon able to get ahold of myself, I leaned away slightly to clear my face and I looked at him.

"I'm sorry," I croaked. "I know that NYU is important to you and you love it there, but I really missed you.

"I missed you too, beautiful. It drives me crazy how much I miss you."

"Really?" I asked. From all his phone calls, messages, or Skype chats, I thought he simply missed me; I did not know that he felt this way about it.

"Really," he replied. "At night and whenever there is nothing to distract me, I automatically start thinking of you."

I felt my face turn a bit red, actually flattered that he thought of me so often.

"But you know I have to go back."

"I know," I sighed, aware that any argument I made for him to stay was pointless; he loved NYU and I do not think any force on this earth could force him to leave without a degree.

"But we made it this far; there's nothing stopping us now."

"But I'm scared."

"Listen," he said with confidence, "we have been through hell and back repeatedly ever since we first started dating. And every time we fell apart, broke up, or had our issues we've always been able to build ourselves back up; no matter what happens we're going to be together somehow."

"You really believe that?"

"With all my heart," he stated. "Besides, why would I want to give up on us? I love you."

"I love you too," I said. "And that's why it is going to suck to watch you go back."

"Hey," he said, slacking his grip on me and giving me a grin. "I'm not going anywhere until you're better; don't make yourself sicker by thinking about me leaving."

I nodded, never wanting to think about him going away. I wrapped my arm around Eli's middle and rested my forehead against his chest, inhaling his scent to the best of my ability through my stuffed up nose.

"Dorothy was right: there's no place like home," I heard him say.

I let out a small laugh before nestling my head closer to him.

"I apologize ahead of time if I get you sick."

"It's my own fault if I do; but it's worth it."

"But if you do, I promise to come visit you in New York to take care of you."

"Oh yeah?" he said and I nodded. "Well – in that case – I hope you're contagious . . . wow, I'd never thought I'd say that."

I chuckled and blushed when Eli gave my lips one gentle kiss. I grinned at him after he leaned back only to see me releasing a yawn.

"I think you need to get some sleep," he advised me.

"I don't want to," I said. "I want to be with you."

"I'm going to be right next to you. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" I asked, not wanting him to leave my side.

"I promise," he said before kissing between my eyes. "Now lie down and relax."

I obeyed, getting as comfortable as I can as Eli sat next to me. I felt him guiding my untidy hair out of my face and I grinned at the feeling I had not experience in a long time. Who knew that I could take the feeling of hair tickling my skin for granted?

"Eli?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me you're not going anywhere."

"I swear . . ."

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Yeah . . . I hope you all enjoyed this! Review?


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